Masonic
High Council the Mother High CouncilANCIENT AND HONOURABLE
FRATERNITY OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS

A group of Regular Master Masons,
disillusioned, disappointed and concerned by the state of the Administration
and Management of the Masonic Order in general and the Craft in particular,
assembled at Freemasons Arms, Covent Garden in London in order to put forward
their legitimate concerns and to discuss and debate those issues being ignored
by the Craft Administration. This Assembly of Masons at London, with the
assistance of various highly respected and knowledgeable Brethren, Constituted
and Consecrated a Masonic High Council in Due Form on the 25th of January
2005.

The Masonic High Council is a de jure and de facto
Sovereign Masonic Body with jurisdiction over the Craft in England and has
issued a warrant for the Creation of its first Lodge, named Grand Lodge
No.1, at the orient of London. Three other regularly established Lodges
have requested to join the Masonic High Council.

Once this process in completed it is the aim of the
MHC to establish a Regular Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England
in Accordance with the Old Constitutions.

The MHC is a truly independent and self-governing
body with authority over Craft Freemasonry in the symbolic degrees of Entered
Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason.

The MHC is a male only organization.

The MHC requires of all its members a belief in a
Supreme Being or Creator.

The Volume of the Sacred Law is present and
open at all its Lodge meetings and all Oaths and Obligations are made upon
it.

The Masonic light and symbols are present
at all Lodge meetings.

The discussion of religion and politics within MHC
Lodges is prohibited.

The MHC observes the Ancient Landmarks and Old Constitutions
and insists on them being observed within all its Lodges.

Concern
for the Craft

Thoughtful Brethren have long endured
serious dissatisfaction with the administration and state of the Craft in
England. It was in direct response to these concerns that on the 25th of
January this year a number of Master Masons came together to constitute
a Masonic High Council, to prepare a firm Foundation for a Regular Grand
Lodge of England true to the Ancient Constitutions and fundamental spiritual
values of the Craft of 1717.

At the core of these concerns is the heartfelt
lament that Masonry in England has effectively degenerated into a social
and dining club, meeting upon the excuse of a initiating yet another candidate
into a society whose only apparent purpose is to carry out initiations,
whilst seeking to justify its existence through the business of institutional
charity. And where the heirarchy classically maintains discipline through
the assiduous manufacture of ‘honours’ whilst ignorantly sacrificing
ancient form and spiritual value in obeisance to transient political correctness.

Harsh words indeed, and doubtless the majority
of English Masons will persist in their disinclination to give any thought
to there being anything more to the Order than this. But whatever it is,
and however socially valuable in some respects it may be, it isn’t
Freemasonry.

If the words of our initiation ceremonies
are actually heeded, rather than airily dismissed as so much quaint mumbo-jumbo,
we learn that we are speculative Masons. And as speculative Masons we are
meant to moralise, philosophise and speculate upon the symbols of the Craft,
as traditionally practised in Lodges of old, before the initiation sausage-machine
had been cranked up. If Freemasonry means anything it means the making of
the whole man, from rough ashlar to polished stone. It implies a psychological
and spiritual journey through an esoteric interpretation of our rich symbology.
For too long have English Freemasons wishing to pursue such studies in a
working setting been effectively disenfranchised.

Thus the Masonic High Council, after heartfelt
debate and consideration, regretfully concluded that our duty to the Craft
in general and to our Brethren and to ourselves in particular far outweighed
attachment to the United Grand Lodge of England which we, and very many
others, believe has long neglected the core, esoteric values of Freemasonry
and now represents little more than a grandiose façade of what was
and what might have been. The almost overwhelming response received from
numerous Brethren, both in England and overseas, has more than confirmed
us in this belief.

“THE
ACT OF REGULARITY”

To amend what has happen amiss,
and to hold a yearly communication and General Assembly of Masons at London,
England.

1 – The Reinstatement of the full
wording on the delivery of the Masonic Penalties.

2 – The freedom and right of a Lodge to Practice
its Craft Freemasonry Regular Masonic ritual of choice, such as the Clermont
Rite, Ancient and Accepted Rite, Ancient and Primitive, Adoniram Rite, Swedish
Rite, Rectified Scottish Rite, Schroeder Rite, English Rite, Ancient English
Rite.

3 – The right of every Master Mason to use and
chose an apron design as long it is decorated with symbols that relate to
the Craft.

4 – No interference of the Craft in the so-called
higher degrees and vice versa.

5 – An equilibrium between Masonic work, instruction
and science and charitable and social duties.

6 – The option of reading the Masonic ritual
in Lodge.

7 – Greater autonomy for the Symbolic Lodges.

8 – Better and more transparency in Grand Lodge
decisions and affairs.

9 – Devolution of the Masonic Library, Museum
and archives to the Craft legal owners.

10 – To permit all aspects of the esoteric Masonic
tradition, such as symbols, words, uses and customs.

11 – Freedom of association outside of the Craft.

12 – To promote the spirit of Brotherhood among
Freemasons.

13 - The reinstatement of the Mark Mason Ceremony
as a complement of the Fellow Craft Degree.

Lastly, this our Regulations shall be Recorded
in our Registry, to show posterity how much we desire to revive the Ancient
Craft upon true Masonic principles.